American Car Show 2018 - 30th of March - Helsinki, Finland - Part 2/4 - Tuning Car Show

Here's a glance to the Tuning Car Show held at the American Car Show this year 😎 Take a look!

1975 Ford Escort MKII

American Car Show 2018 - 30th of March - Helsinki, Finland - Part 3/4 - Motorsport & Offroad

And here's a peek to the Motorsport division of the event 😎 A lot of drag cars and drifters were on display this year. I really liked to look of the 1965 Plymouth Valiant Pro Street drag car. Unfortunately there were lots of people around it all the time and it attracted a lot of attention so I wasn't able to get photo of the front end and engine bay of it 😞 Maybe next time!

Morris Mini LS1 Twin Turbo

American Car Show 2018 - 30th of March - Helsinki, Finland - Part 4/4 - MC Heaven

Here's few photos of motorcycles displayed at this year's American Car Show and MC Heaven which caught my eye and camera 😁 Unfortunately I didn't have that much time to cover the whole motorcycle section of the show. They were also a lot of same bikes which attended Petrol Circus and MP18 show this year.

1929 Husqvarna TV 30

'73 Suzuki GT250 - Part 7 - Betor Expert rear shocks

Last weekend it was time to brush of dust from my GT250 project bike 😀, which it had unfortunately gathered for a while 😬

Couple of weeks ago a blue box arrived from England to my local post office with a pair of Betor Expert rear shocks inside. At first I planned to order them straight from Betor (located in Spain) but unfortunately they didn't have shipping option to Finland so I had to find another supplier.

Luckily Google found me Villiers Services from England. I went and asked them by email how much the shipping would cost and after getting their answer I made my order through their website with these specifications:

Mounting bolt size: 10 mm / 3/8"
Spring weight: 50 lb
Shock length: 340 mm

Shocks have 12 mm diameter holes for mounting bolts and came with four 10x12x24 mm bushings.

I made a simple sketch in CAD to check the fitment with T250 frame, which I had modeled earlier. At first I thought about ordering longer ones than 340 mm, but after coming to conclusion that the chain would eat up my swingarm quite badly I decided otherwise. The sketch has dimensions of 21"/18" tires and GT front forks and they are just close estimations.

It's good to notice that there are differences in T250 and GT250 frames. For example head tube of GT250 is different than T250 due to different forks. Basic geometry of both frames are however pretty similar 👍

Sketch of rear suspension dimensions

Bushings (10x12x24mm)

I decided to use and modify the old GT250 rear shock mounting points to fit the new shocks. Mounting points in the 80's RM250 swingarm are not symmetrical in my setup and they are just a bit wider than the ones in the GT250 frame.

Shocks mounted very well to the swingarm and they didn't require other modifications than drilling the mounting holes from 8 mm diameter to 10 mm. After mocking up both shocks to the swingarm it was obvious that left side needed a longer spacer (14 mm).

I decided to drill through the frame mounting points to fit long bolts. I lathed two support sleeves which helped to keep the drill bits straight while drilling. I used 8 and 10 mm drills. After both sides were drilled I cut off the 10 x 12 mm sleeves which were left to the both ends and fitted the spacers in place together with shocks. I finished the job by welding the 14 mm spacer to the frame.

I used zinc plated bolts and nut for mockup and will use acid resistant DIN 931 bolts with DIN 6926 flanged Nyloc nuts for final assembly. Hopefully they will withstand the load and shear from the swingarm. Time will tell 😅

12 mm GT250 rear shock mount with 10 mm thread

Bushing helped in figuring out side offset

Swingarm didn't require other modifications than
drilling the mounting holes from 8 mm to 10 mm

Left side mockup

Dimensions for spacers

Left side spacer

Support sleeves, centre drill , 8 mm and 10 mm drill bits

Lathed sleeves helped keeping the drill bits straight while drilling

Drilled through

Cut off the 10 x 12 mm sleeve and mocked spacer in place

I used just a long bolt to keep the spacer in place while welding

Job done!

Acid resistant M10 hexagon bolts (DIN 931) and
flanged Nyloc nuts (DIN 6926) for final assembly 😀

Stadion Snowcross Oulu 2018 - Dominator, Ladies Class, Bothnia Cup & Winter Expo - 24th of February - Oulu, Finland

Stadion Snowcross Oulu is a two day snowcross event held at Raksila's baseball stadium in Oulu, Finland. This year record amount of top riders from Finland, Sweden and Norway had registered to competition. Event started on Friday, 23th of February, with Finnish Championships, which Eetu Karjalainen won and was crowned as Finnish champion.

Saturday started with one versus one Dominator contest. Playoffs type of contest culminated to a three rider race to sort out positioning on the podium. Emil Hansson took the first place, Filip Har came in second and Adam Öhman settled for the third place. Ladies entered the stage after Dominator to compete in a national cup race, which included 12 women. This time Linn Sjöberg took the first place, Elvira Lindh came second and Noora Kursu third. Bothnia Cup race was the main event. Multiple heats and a last change round determined participants for the final heat where Joonas Keskiaho ended up taking the first place price. Mikko Osmo was second and in third place Pär Vikman.

Between races there were lots of activities for visitors to participate in, such as Airsoft shooting competition and disc golf. Winter Expo displayed newest snowmobiles on the market from different manufacturers. There were also few snowbikes, which of I've been very curious of lately after seeing few in MP 18 motorcycle expo couple of weeks ago 😎

February was a very cold month in Finland and on Saturday the temperature gauge dropped below -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit). Nevertheless plenty of crowd gathered to enjoy the races. Only photographing felt a bit uncomfortable due to freezing fingers 😬

Laakkonen Racing & Sonkamuotka Snowcross

MP 18 Motorcycle Expo - 3rd of February 2018 - Helsinki, Finland - Part 1 - Street & Offroad

Once again I had an opportunity to visit MP 18 motorcycle expo. It was held at the convention center of Helsinki called Messukeskus. This time I catched a night train from Oulu to Pasila. Convention center is conveniently located within a walking distance from Pasila train station so it easily accessable. Expo lasted three days from Friday to Sunday. I made my visit on Saturday. There was a lot of planned activities and showcases for visitors, such as stunt riding, mini supermoto racing, road racing exhibits, test drive simulators etc. There was also a possibility test drive new motorcycles in an indoor circuit where racing events also took place.

Wide variety of exhibitors included bigger and smaller motorcycle brands from Europe, United States and Japan, such as Aprilia, BMW, Triumph, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha etc. Motorcycle brands were placed to same hall with parts and riding gear vendors. Different MC and Motorsport clubs and associations had also stands at the expo. Petrol Circus showcased modified motorcycles and best motorcycles were awarded with trophies and prices.

Aprilia RSV4RR

MP 18 Motorcycle Expo - 3rd of February 2018 - Helsinki, Finland - Part 2 - Road racing & MX

Modern racing motorcycles had also strong present at the expo and there were bikes from many different categories of racing. Here are some which caught my attention and interest.

Red Bull Ajo Motorsport 2010 Derbi 125 #93 Marc Marquez

MP 18 Motorcycle Expo - 3rd of February 2018 - Helsinki, Finland - Part 3 - Classic & Classic Racing

Here are few photos of some of the older bikes displayed at the show.

RR 1150 'Rough Of Rämsöö'

MP 18 Motorcycle Expo - 3rd of February 2018 - Helsinki, Finland - Part 4 - Petrol Circus Custom Bike Show

Petrol Circus is biggest custom bike competition exhibition in Finland. It was held during MP 18 motorcycle expo in Messukeskus, Helsinki, and there was around 100 motorcycles exhibited. Competition had four different classes: classic, custom, street and open. Here's few photos I took while my stay 😊

1955 NSU CafeMax 372

Tampere Supercross & OffroadExpo @ Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre (TESC) - 11th of November 2017 - Tampere, Finland

Here's my photos from Tampere Supercross and OffroadExpo held at the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre (TESC) 10-11th of November 2017. First time the event took place in 2012 and act as a final event for Finnish Supercross championships in 2012 and 2013. 2014 the competition turned international.

Head2Head format was introduced this year where two riders compete against each other. Six heats decided the winner and #48 Joan Cross took the first place in Saturdays competition. The main competition started with two qualifying rounds and consisted of four heats and two finals. It was a tight battle between #91 Alex Ray and #151 Harri Kullas. Harri won the final on Friday but on Saturday it was Alex's time to shine and take the first place. 

Between heats there was also 50cc and 65cc Minicross exhibition races. Pit area for competitors was constructed beside the OffroadExpo fair area which had over 50 exhibitors and was free of charge for visitors. New KTM Freeride E-XC electric bike grapped my attention. I also recorded quite a lot of video clips and I will upload them to my Instagram account.